8,603 research outputs found
Cenozoic evolution of Neotethys and implications for the causes of plate motions
Africa-North America-Eurasia plate circuit rotations, combined with Red Sea rotations and new estimates of crustal shortening in Iran define the Cenozoic history of the Neotethyan ocean between Arabia and Eurasia. The new constraints indicate that Arabia-Eurasia convergence has been fairly constant at 2 to 3 cm/yr since 56 Ma with slowing of Africa-Eurasia motion to <1 cm/yr near 25 Ma, coeval with the opening of the Red Sea. Ocean closure occurred no later than 10 Ma, and could have occurred prior to this time only if a large amount of continental lithosphere was subducted, suggesting that slowing of Africa significantly predated the Arabia-Eurasia collision. These kinematics imply that Africa's disconnection with the negative buoyancy of the downgoing slab of lithosphere beneath southern Eurasia slowed its motion. The slow, steady rate of northward subduction since 56 Ma contrasts with strongly variable rates of magma production in the Urumieh-Dokhtar arc, implying magma production rate in continental arcs is not linked to subduction rate
Different Ways of Reading, or Just Making the Right Noises?
What does reading look like? Can learning to read be reduced to the acquisition of a set of isolable skills, or proficiency in reading be equated with the independence of the solitary, silent reader of prose fiction? These conceptions of reading and reading development, which figure strongly in educational policy, may appear to be simple common sense. But both ethnographic data and evidence from literary texts suggest that such paradigms offer, at most, a partial and ahistorical picture of reading. An important dimension, neglected in the dominant paradigms, is the irreducibly social quality of reading practices
Building validation tools for knowledge-based systems
The Expert Systems Validation Associate (EVA), a validation system under development at the Lockheed Artificial Intelligence Center for more than a year, provides a wide range of validation tools to check the correctness, consistency and completeness of a knowledge-based system. A declarative meta-language (higher-order language), is used to create a generic version of EVA to validate applications written in arbitrary expert system shells. The architecture and functionality of EVA are presented. The functionality includes Structure Check, Logic Check, Extended Structure Check (using semantic information), Extended Logic Check, Semantic Check, Omission Check, Rule Refinement, Control Check, Test Case Generation, Error Localization, and Behavior Verification
Herschel PACS and SPIRE spectroscopy of the Photodissociation Regions associated with S 106 and IRAS 23133+6050
Photodissociation regions (PDRs) contain a large fraction of all of the
interstellar matter in galaxies. Classical examples include the boundaries
between ionized regions and molecular clouds in regions of massive star
formation, marking the point where all of the photons energetic enough to
ionize hydrogen have been absorbed. In this paper we determine the physical
properties of the PDRs associated with the star forming regions IRAS 23133+6050
and S 106 and present them in the context of other Galactic PDRs associated
with massive star forming regions. We employ Herschel PACS and SPIRE
spectroscopic observations to construct a full 55-650 {\mu}m spectrum of each
object from which we measure the PDR cooling lines, other fine- structure
lines, CO lines and the total far-infrared flux. These measurements are then
compared to standard PDR models. Subsequently detailed numerical PDR models are
compared to these predictions, yielding additional insights into the dominant
thermal processes in the PDRs and their structures. We find that the PDRs of
each object are very similar, and can be characterized by a two-phase PDR model
with a very dense, highly UV irradiated phase (n 10^6 cm^(-3), G
10^5) interspersed within a lower density, weaker radiation field phase
(n 10^4 cm^(-3), G 10^4). We employed two different numerical
models to investigate the data, firstly we used RADEX models to fit the peak of
the CO ladder, which in conjunction with the properties derived yielded
a temperature of around 300 K. Subsequent numerical modeling with a full PDR
model revealed that the dense phase has a filling factor of around 0.6 in both
objects. The shape of the CO ladder was consistent with these components
with heating dominated by grain photoelectric heating. An extra excitation
component for the highest J lines (J > 20) is required for S 106.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, A&A Accepte
Neutron scattering study of a quasi-2D spin-1/2 dimer system Piperazinium Hexachlorodicuprate under hydrostatic pressure
We report inelastic neutron scattering study of a quasi-two-dimensional S=1/2
dimer system Piperazinium Hexachlorodicuprate under hydrostatic pressure. The
spin gap {\Delta} becomes softened with the increase of the hydrostatic
pressure up to P= 9.0 kbar. The observed threefold degenerate triplet
excitation at P= 6.0 kbar is consistent with the theoretical prediction and the
bandwidth of the dispersion relation is unaffected within the experimental
uncertainty. At P= 9.0 kbar the spin gap is reduced to 0.55 meV from 1.0 meV at
ambient pressure.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
The quantum metrology triangle and the re-definition of the SI ampere and kilogram; Analysis of a reduced set of observational equations
We have developed a set of seven observational equations that include all of
the physics necessary to relate the most important of the fundamental constants
to the definitions of the SI kilogram and ampere. We have used these to
determine the influence of alternative definitions being considered for the SI
kilogram and ampere on the uncertainty of three of the fundamental constants
(h, e and mu). We have also reviewed the experimental evidence for the
exactness of the quantum metrology triangle resulting from experiments
combining the quantum Hall effect, the Josephson effects and single-electron
tunnelling.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures & 5 table
Interplay between static and dynamic polar correlations in relaxor Pb(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_{3}
We have characterized the dynamics of the polar nanoregions in
Pb(MgNb)O (PMN) through high-resolution neutron
backscattering and spin-echo measurements of the diffuse scattering cross
section. We find that the diffuse scattering intensity consists of \emph{both}
static and dynamic components. The static component first appears at the Curie
temperature K, while the dynamic component freezes completely
at the temperature T K; together, these components account for
all of the observed spectral weight contributing to the diffuse scattering
cross section. The integrated intensity of the dynamic component peaks near the
temperature at which the frequency-dependent dielectric constant reaches a
maximum (T) when measured at 1 GHz, i. e. on a timescale of
ns. Our neutron scattering results can thus be directly related to dielectric
and infra-red measurements of the polar nanoregions. Finally, the global
temperature dependence of the diffuse scattering can be understood in terms of
just two temperature scales, which is consistent with random field models.Comment: (8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B
Hepatic progenitor cells from adult human livers for cell transplantation.
Objective: Liver regeneration is mainly based on cellular
self-renewal including progenitor cells. Efforts have been
made to harness this potential for cell transplantation, but
shortage of hepatocytes and premature differentiated
progenitor cells from extra-hepatic organs are limiting
factors. Histological studies implied that resident cells in
adult liver can proliferate, have bipotential character and
may be a suitable source for cell transplantation.
Methods: Particular cell populations were isolated after
adequate tissue dissociation. Single cell suspensions were
purified by Thy-1 positivity selection, characterised in vitro
and transplanted in immunodeficient Pfp/Rag2 mice.
Results: Thy-1+ cells that are mainly found in the portal
tract and the surrounding parenchyma, were isolated from
surgical liver tissue with high yields from specimens with
histological signs of regeneration. Thy-1+ cell populations
were positive for progenitor (CD34, c-kit, CK14, M2PK,
OV6), biliary (CK19) and hepatic (HepPar1) markers
revealing their progenitor as well as hepatic and biliary
nature. The potential of Thy-1+ cells for differentiation in
vitro was demonstrated by increased mRNA and protein
expression for hepatic (CK18, HepPar1) and biliary (CK7)
markers during culture while progenitor markers CK14,
chromogranin A and nestin were reduced. After
transplantation of Thy-1+ cells into livers of immunodeficient
mice, engraftment was predominantly seen in the
periportal portion of the liver lobule. Analysis of in situ
material revealed that transplanted cells express human
hepatic markers HepPar1 and albumin, indicating functional
engraftment.
Conclusion: Bipotential progenitor cells from human
adult livers can be isolated using Thy-1 and might be a
potential candidate for cell treatment in liver diseases
- …